Chapter 189: Proof 11
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 189: Proof 11
“I’ll see you later then, Joden.”
“Right.”
The moment they sensed the presence of the Student Council members, Loki and Joden’s brief encounter came to an end. Loki immediately took off in the direction Clara had gone.
Phew. That was tense. Glad that’s over.
He’d said it before, but he and Joden were a terrible match.
Illusions that shattered at a single touch were useless against Joden’s Innate Magic, which could freeze space itself. If it came down to a life-or-death struggle, Loki might have a way, but winning against Joden in a simple sparring match was a tall order.
“The men in that family are the problem. They worry too much.”
Predicting Clara’s path wasn't difficult. Since she had no further reason to stay at the Academy, she’d likely be heading for the exit. And since she had no reason to run, catching up was easy enough with a little mana.
There she is.
Just as expected, by using mana to boost his speed, he soon spotted the back of Clara’s head in the distance. Her black hair—a rarity in this world—made her stand out even from afar.
“Miss Clara!”
Clara, who had been walking listlessly, instinctively turned her head at the loud voice calling from behind.
Even from a distance, between the red cloak, the white mask, and the way he was vigorously waving his hand while sprinting toward her, it was impossible not to recognize him.
The moment Clara turned around, Loki couldn't help but falter for a second.
It was a distance he wouldn't have been able to see clearly if he hadn't reinforced his body with mana.
Clara, who was always so cold and composed, had red, puffy eyes, and tiny droplets were clinging to her lashes. Anyone could tell she had been crying.
"Miss Clara! Miss Clara!"
Loki pretended not to notice the tears. He waved even harder and raised his voice, slowing his pace as he approached her. He wanted to give her time to compose herself.
“Gah, I’m beat. I finally caught up. Huff... puff... Do you have any idea how far I ran to find you?”
Once he reached her, he intentionally hunched over, resting his hands on his knees and gasping for air, exaggerating his exhaustion. If anyone else had acted this way, she might have been suspicious, but since Loki’s theatrics were a daily occurrence, Clara didn't give it a second thought.
Clara quickly wiped her eyes to hide the redness and acted even colder than usual.
“Why are you here? I played along with that ridiculous test of yours, didn't I? Are you here to blackmail me with the Book of Forgotten Memories again?”
She spoke harshly because she wanted to be alone, but she knew deep down that the man in front of her wouldn't back down so easily.
“It’s not that. You just left without a word, so I thought I’d see you off. How about it? Are you moved?”
“I don't need it.”
“Ack! My heart! I’m wounded!”
Clara ignored the dejected Loki and continued walking toward the Academy entrance. Loki kept pace with her, chattering away at her side.
“You’d be shocked if you heard the stir you caused in the auditorium after you won and walked out.”
“·················”
“I overheard this from the second floor, but apparently, the amount of mana you used in that match alone was enough to cast advanced spells about seventy-eight times!”
“·················”
“Man, I knew it! There was a reason you told all seven of them to come at once. You looked seriously cool back then.”
“·················”
“Honestly, it was frustrating watching the challengers hesitate and try to push each other forward, but hearing you say that was so refreshing. I bet Professor Idra felt the same way.”
“·················”
“At the end, Professor Idra drew some attention by neutralizing all your spells at once, but I guess that couldn't be helped.”
“.................”
“By the way, among those who challenged you... was it a third-year? That guy was actually pretty decent, wasn't he?”
“.................”
“His basics weren't bad, but more than anything, I liked his strategy.”
“.................”
“That artifact that breaks barriers? If you hadn't known what it was and had been preparing another attack spell inside the barrier, it might have actually worked.”
“.................”
“Of course, 'working' and 'winning' are two different things.”
“.................”
Usually, if someone doesn't respond, the speaker gets embarrassed and shuts up, but Loki seemed to get even more excited and kept talking.
“Oh! But before that, when you first created the Magic Missiles. If you hadn't stopped and just attacked immediately, they wouldn't have even had that chance.”
— Step.
“Miss Clara, but honestly, stopping like that without attacking was—”
Clara, who had been ignoring him despite the constant chatter that felt like it would make her ears bleed, suddenly came to a halt.
Hearing Loki’s words, the freezing, cold remarks she had heard moments ago flashed through her mind.
‘When you first used the Magic Missiles, why did you stop instead of firing immediately? The match should have ended then.’
‘But you stopped, and as a result, your opponents regained their composure and charged at you.’
‘Arrogance is a mage’s greatest enemy. Did you become conceited just because people praised you for having a lot of mana?’
She remembered herself standing there like a mute, unable to say a single word in response to Joden.
Clara stopped walking and turned to look Loki straight in the eye. She intended to say to Loki what she hadn't been able to say to Joden.
“Why?! Are you going to say it too? That me stopping there instead of attacking was arrogant—”
“You’re really kind, Miss Clara.”
“What?”
Clara was taken aback by the completely unexpected words. At first, she thought he was simply being sarcastic.
She couldn't read his expression because of the mask, but people carry a certain aura. At the very least, she didn't get the feeling that the man before her was being sarcastic.
That made it even harder to understand. She would have preferred it if he were mocking her.
“I’m... kind?”
“I’m talking about how you stopped without firing the Magic Missiles at first. It was because you didn't want them to get hurt, wasn't it?”
“.................”
Clara said nothing.
“You filled the auditorium with Magic Missiles and then stopped to show them you could attack at any time, essentially telling them to give up. But they stopped, dropped their weapons, suddenly started talking amongst themselves, and then charged... You must have been the one who was bewildered.”
She wasn't ignoring him this time. She simply had no idea what to say.
“If it were a sword duel, you could just stop with the blade at their throat, but with magic, that’s impossible.”
Those were the words. Those were the words she had wanted to say when Joden criticized her.
The words that wouldn't come out earlier were now flowing effortlessly from the mouth of the man in front of her.
“...How do you know that?”
“I told you.”
“...........”
“Because you’re kind, Miss Clara.”
Overwhelmed by an unidentifiable surge of emotion, Clara lowered her head.
“..........”
Loki looked down at the top of her head and thought to himself.
This should be enough, right?
Loki had unintentionally overheard the conversation between Clara and Joden earlier. That was how he knew what Joden had said to her, and after seeing her red eyes, he couldn't just leave her be.
By the standards of this world, all Academy students were adults, but by the standards of his previous world, they were just high schoolers. He had specifically chosen words of comfort so that Clara wouldn't be hurt by Joden’s remarks anymore.
Besides, it’s the truth.
The moment Clara stopped her Magic Missiles, all the challengers had frozen, and some had even dropped their weapons. Then, after some third-year said something, they regained their spirit and charged again.
From their perspective, it was like a shonen manga moment where they overcame despair to find courage, but from Clara’s perspective, it was no different than people raising a white flag of surrender and then attacking with that very flag.
I can't believe I have to do this because of Joden.
Joden probably knew what Clara’s intentions were when she stopped the Magic Missiles. He was likely just worried. Because to some, Clara’s kindness would look like hesitation or a weakness, and to others, that hesitation would be an opportunity.
Anyway, Clara? When are you going to look up?
Once she had lowered her head, she showed no sign of showing her face again.
Is she waiting for me to leave?
No matter how mature Clara acted, she was still a sensitive high schooler in terms of age. It could be embarrassing to be comforted by a peer.
“Oops! Look at the time! The next match is going to start soon. Well then, Miss Clara, get home safely.”
He turned around to leave naturally and give her some space. But just then—
"Wait a moment."
For some reason, Clara’s voice sounded urgent, and he turned back around.
There, instead of Clara’s blushing face...
Was a massive, glowing red fireball.
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