Chapter 74
Chapter 74
After the sparring ended, Eriksen said he still had a schedule to keep and left the training grounds, while I headed to the cafeteria to eat dinner after taking a quick rinse in the showers.
“…….”
Perhaps because it was peak mealtime, the cafeteria was crowded.
When I entered, the noisy din quieted a little.
Feeling the gazes pouring in from all sides, I walked forward with a calm expression.
‘The level of attention’s gone up even more than before.’
Up until now, I had drawn eyes because of the top student title and the trouble with upperclassmen.
But today, the density felt especially thicker.
Still, what could I do? Even if they harbored bad feelings toward me, there wouldn’t be anyone bold enough to pick a fight with me head-on.
“Pile it on.”
I was hungry after having moved my body thoroughly while grappling with Eriksen.
So I loaded up my plate and looked for a suitable table.
Every guy whose eyes met mine trembled and turned his head away, making me feel as if I’d become some kind of monster.
‘This isn’t some delinquent from my school days.’
Of course, my current situation couldn’t be compared to that.
If I felt like it, I could actually take their heads.
“Over here!”
Just as I was looking for an appropriately empty seat, feeling sorry about inconveniencing others, a familiar voice called out to me.
Turning my head, I spotted people occupying an entire table.
“Ostia.”
Alice, Leysias, and the others waved at me.
When I approached, Werner made an empty spot for me.
“Ostia, is it true you’re participating in the Academic Festival?”
“So word already got out.”
When I looked at Leysias, she clasped her hands apologetically, as if saying it couldn’t be helped.
Well, I had planned to tell everyone anyway.
When I nodded that it was fine, they all let out impressed murmurs.
“Isn’t it unprecedented for a first-year to participate in the Academic Festival?”
Yuria looked at us with sparkling eyes.
Elysia and the others wore similar expressions.
“I didn’t expect to get an opportunity like this either.”
Leysias also looked proud.
Since the rules would be revised starting next year to allow first-years to participate, I wondered if it was really that big of a deal, but judging by their reactions, it seemed I’d been mistaken.
“There’s not much time left if it’s next month.”
“It’s held for a week, right?”
“With classes during the weekdays, it’ll be hard to go watch.”
“Werner, isn’t that your hometown?”
Alice looked at him as if she’d just realized it.
In response, Werner thumped his chest and spoke proudly.
“That’s right. It’s a bit far from the Empire, but it’s still a great place, you know?”
“So which field are you competing in?”
Elysia asked with an interested expression.
“I’m participating in the Sagittarius Seat tournament as the representative of the Swordsmanship Department, and Leysias is participating as the representative of the Magic Department.”
The Sagittarius Seat tournament was a competition where participants from four fields—martial combat, magic, spirits, and others—each tested their strength.
It took up the largest portion of the Academic Festival events and was also the most renowned competition.
“If you both win in your respective fields, you’ll end up fighting each other, right?”
“Ah, that was a thing too.”
Among the Sagittarius Seat tournaments, the winners of each field also fought a final match among themselves.
That determined the winning field of the year, which then became the theme for that year.
For reference, last year’s theme was ‘magic.’
“Even if Ostia might, the chances on my side are slim. There are already many upperclassmen who are better than me.”
“Really? I think you’ve got a chance.”
At Leysias’s humble words, I smiled faintly.
The Sheffield Count Family she belonged to was a prestigious magic house.
In particular, Leysias specialized in high-speed chanting and parallel operation of magic.
In other words, she was a mage specialized for real combat.
Her level could likely contend with not only her own year but even those a year or two above.
At the very least, she’d probably rank high in the Academic Festival.
‘Then as for me…….’
If we were to discuss my opponents at this point, they’d be those evaluated as strong figures of each nation, like Arthur of Britain.
Excluding the hero-class monsters who only appeared later, I had no equal among my peers.
‘Those guys hole up in some remote mountain valley or their own abode and do nothing but train until the demon realm army appears, so this is my world.’
“…For me, well. Winning would be easy.”
When I nodded confidently, they laughed with expressions that said, of course.
“Ostia, it feels strange because nothing you do seems strange anymore.”
“Everyone thinks that. You’re not an ordinary person.”
Werner responded to Yuria’s words with a meaningful smile.
Diark still looked carefree and impressed, but Werner’s remark rubbed me the wrong way.
‘Look at this guy?’
Judging by the way he spoke, it seemed he’d figured out my identity to some extent.
Well, considering he’d been constantly frequenting the information guild from the beginning to keep tabs on the Empire’s movements, it’d be harder not to know.
‘Then was his approach to me on the first day of the semester, bringing up Alice and all that, part of his plan too?’
After that, I didn’t think I’d seen him trying to appeal to Alice again.
Not that it mattered.
I’d wanted to get close to him as well.
If he approached first, it saved me the trouble, so I was rather grateful.
“A first-year winning in the very first year they participate. That’d be something to see.”
Elysia smiled as she spoke, as if imagining the scene.
The others wore similar expressions.
By next year, most of the people here would probably be able to participate in the Academic Festival.
Wouldn’t that make it even more interesting?
Time flew by like an arrow.
That said, it wasn’t like I did anything particularly special.
I simply attended classes, trained, and prepared for the Academic Festival like everyone else.
And now, on the day before departing for the Kingdom of Demedrio for the Academic Festival, I was sparring in the training grounds with two girls.
“Ha!”
A rigid sword strike, reminiscent of her father, swung steadfastly.
She still lacked strength, but her momentum and spirit were no lesser.
Of course, that alone wasn’t enough to face me, but as if to make up for the shortcomings, Alice’s sword stealthily followed from behind.
If compared, it was a collaboration between an orthodox knight’s sword and an assassin’s.
The attack was no easy matter to deal with.
“It’s decent, but.”
Technique against power, steadfastness against sharpness.
I twisted my wrist and deflected Elysia’s sword, which was coming down head-on, to the side.
Still lacking in proficiency, she fell for my technique, her sword’s trajectory going astray and striking the floor instead.
Alice’s attack ended the same way.
‘It might actually be better if she fought alone.’
Perhaps because she was an assassin, she excelled at fights that made use of others, but when it came to coordinated attacks, she was close to failing.
She merely used Elysia’s attack as a discarded card, failing to properly bring out the subtlety of coordination.
As a result.
Tap.
“Ugh?!”
After nullifying all the attacks coming at me, I slipped in between and lightly pushed their chests.
They let out groans and rolled helplessly across the floor.
“…Haa, the gap just doesn’t seem to be closing.”
The sparring that had gone on for hours came to an end.
Lying on the training grounds floor, Elysia complained with a tired sigh.
Alice, sprawled beside her, pressed her face to the floor and mumbled something.
Neither of them had gone all out, but the same was true for me.
Even if we used the same level of power, the effectiveness differed by more than double, so from their perspective, they couldn’t help but feel a wall.
To put it metaphorically, they were still growing sprouts.
If they continued to grow slowly like this, they’d eventually become far stronger than in the original work.
“So work harder.”
I truly looked forward to that day.
The day to depart for the Kingdom of Demedrio arrived.
After lunch, we held a send-off ceremony, receiving farewells from all the students, like an army heading off to war.
Chris, the dean, gave brief advice in a solemn manner to us, including Carius.
In the end, she even winked at me slightly so that only I could see, and I wished she wouldn’t do cute things with that elderly appearance.
After leaving the Academy, we headed to the teleport gate on Beatrice’s Road.
With Carius at the head, everyone entered, and we soon transferred to the Kingdom of Demedrio.
“…Oh.”
I closed my eyes briefly and opened them, and the surroundings had changed.
If the Empire’s capital, Polfoardel, was a refined medieval Baroque-style city, then the Kingdom of Demedrio was filled with angular, towering Gothic-style buildings.
‘Working as an editor really did increase my stock of odd knowledge.’
In truth, I’d just picked that up roughly while giving manuscript feedback.
I didn’t even know the ‘art’ in art, but if you threw out names that sounded plausible like Baroque or Gothic, didn’t it seem like you knew something?
“Welcome, Bayern Academy. I am Gareth, the student council president of Madrid Academy of the Kingdom of Demedrio.”
After exiting the teleport gate, a person who’d been waiting greeted us.
Unlike those I’d seen in the Empire, Gareth was a dashing handsome man drawn with bold, strong lines.
If I had to compare, he’d be of the same type as Arthur.
His short, dark brown hair left a strong impression.
He smiled and exchanged a few words with Carius, the leader of our delegation.
We boarded the prepared carriages and headed straight for Madrid Academy, where the Academic Festival would be held.
In our carriage sat three people in total: myself, Leysias beside me, and Eriksen sitting across from her.
“Normally the Swordsmanship Department and Magic Department are assigned separately, but since you’re both first-years, Senior Louis was considerate. You seemed pretty close when I saw you last time.”
Eriksen looked at her with curiosity.
I wondered if he’d switched targets from Elysia to Leysias this time, but she responded with a thin smile that said not a chance.
“I take the same classes as Ostia.”
“Ah, you said you’re double-majoring. It’d be tough with just the sword, but magic too. You work hard.”
“The world’s a harsh place.”
When I shrugged and said that, Eriksen burst out laughing.
“The Academic Festival really starts tomorrow. Since it’s also a festival, today’s probably free time for individual activities. Got any plans?”
“Not really.”
Since I hadn’t planned anything for today, I glanced at Leysias.
Her eyes shone as she said there was somewhere she wanted to go.
“If nothing comes up, I’ll probably be with her.”
“…Damn youth.”
When I shrugged again to that effect and looked at Eriksen, he muttered with a gloomy expression.
Then he crossed his arms and sighed, saying he might as well go hunting on his own.
Eriksen was handsome too, so he’d probably manage just fine.
Soon enough, the carriage arrived at Madrid Academy.
It was less flashy than Bayern Academy, but its antique atmosphere stood out.
“Welcome to Madrid Academy, the greatest pride of the Kingdom of Demedrio.”
As we stepped down from the carriage and admired it with murmurs of awe, Gareth greeted us with a smile.
“…….”
However, the fact that his narrowed eyes briefly swept past me was probably something only I noticed.