Shaking Down Someone Else's Precious... Heir (2)
The next afternoon, our group of twelve—including me—gathered once again around an outdoor table in the academy's central garden.
Eisen, his face brimming with confidence, unslung the long object he'd been carrying on his back and set it down in the middle of the table.
“Here. Take it, Eros Brioche.”
“...Oh.”
“This is what the Einhardt family has prepared. I expect you to remember clearly that this sword is no ordinary, half-hearted item—our family name is on the line.”
His voice carried unmistakable pride and self-assurance in his house.
I lowered my gaze to the table. The scabbard was crafted from what was obviously the finest leather, finished with exquisite precision.
The brilliant blue magic stone embedded in the hilt practically screamed its own value. It gleamed as if to say it could never be compared to the academy's standard-issue junk.
Even though I knew Eisen had gone overboard for the sake of his family's prestige, I kept my expression deliberately indifferent as I picked up the sword.
“Wow, the Einhardt family really delivers. I'll gladly put it to very good use.”
“...You have no idea how relieved I am that it won't be you using it.”
“Sorry?”
“Never mind.”
Leaving Eisen's lame response behind, I turned to look at Lise. Then I held the scabbard out to her.
She hesitated for a moment, glancing back and forth between my face and the sword, before carefully accepting it with both hands.
Even she seemed stunned by its worth—her red eyes widened slightly as she stared at it, completely entranced.
Is it really that great?
I could see her cheeks flushing pink.
But she made an effort to maintain her composure, bowing her head toward me in thanks.
While I was distracted by Lise, Eisen cleared his throat loudly and steered the conversation toward the main topic.
“I believe heading into the field without any plan is an irresponsible act. Although the joint dungeon practicum will have professors overseeing it, this is essentially real combat where our lives could be at risk at any moment. That's why we need to prepare countermeasures.”
He had already begun delivering a serious speech, as if he were the leader of the group.
Even Elteumia dropped her playful attitude and nodded along to his words.
“Therefore... I've invited a senior whom I personally respect with all my heart. He will serve as our mentor and guide us through many aspects of this practicum.”
The moment Eisen finished his introduction, a man with a friendly smile stepped out from behind the shade of a large tree in the garden, walking at a leisurely pace.
He was neatly dressed in the academy uniform of a high-year magic student.
What stood out were his gently drooping eyes and soft brown hair that fluttered lightly.
“Nice to meet you, first-year juniors. I'm Licht, a third-year in the magic department. I came running gladly after Eisen's earnest request.”
He spoke with a genuinely refreshing smile.
That breezy entrance made me furrow my brow slightly as a deep sense of doubt rose within me.
Why? For what reason? This was nothing more than a basic dungeon practicum for first-years.
Yet a third-year student—who was supposedly extremely busy—had taken the time to step forward as a mentor.
It was quite an unusual situation in itself.
I looked Licht up and down with a suspicious gaze.
Is he trying to get in good with the Einhardt family?
It was certainly possible.
Were there many places that could make a mage salivate more than the prospect of becoming a personal wizard for the Einhardt family?
By now, Eisen was looking at Licht with eyes full of respect and awe as he continued his explanation.
“Senior Licht is on an entirely different level from the average mages at the academy.”
Why did he have to emphasize the word “different” while looking straight at me?
Eisen was staring at me as he put extra stress on “different,” as if the whole thing was meant for my ears.
“Have any of you heard about the terrible Distortion incident that occurred two years ago in the academy's third practicum dungeon?”
Distortion.
It referred to a disaster where the mana flow maintaining the dungeon went into an unexplained rampage, completely warping the internal terrain and driving the monsters' ecosystem into a frenzied state.
I noticed even Elteumia's expression harden at the word.
“At the time, every student who had entered the dungeon for practicum suffered a horrific fate. However... Senior Licht was the sole survivor. Despite being only a first-year at the time, he broke through that situation and escaped on his own power.”
Eisen continued to gaze at Licht with eyes full of reverence.
Well, if someone had survived a Distortion alone, it made sense for Eisen to look at him that way. After all, Distortions were that dangerous.
...Then it's even stranger.
Why would such an amazing person bother coming to us?
If he really was that kind of person, he wouldn't need to go out of his way to curry favor with the Einhardt family.
The professors stationed at the academy were all mages dispatched from various magic towers. Getting on their good side would guarantee a smooth path in life.
And yet this legendary survivor senior of his was, for some reason, sending me a sticky, overly affectionate gaze.
“Haha, Eisen. Aren't you exaggerating a bit too much from our very first meeting? I was simply lucky, that's all.”
Licht let out a good-natured laugh and patted Eisen's shoulder.
Then he sat down in the empty seat across from me and leaned his upper body over the table.
...Yeah. He's not even trying to hide it.
He was looking at me. Not just looking—he was staring straight through me with sparkling eyes.
“So you're the rumored genius, Eros Brioche? The professors talk about you quite a lot, you know. A once-in-a-generation talent who managed to achieve Moving Casting despite being only a first-year. Truly... truly remarkable talent, I think.”
“Ah, yes. Well, the rumors are probably exaggerated.”
I answered with a slightly sour expression.
It felt uncomfortable. The constant smiling and friendly approach was uncomfortable, and the persistent polite speech was uncomfortable too.
His face was full of smiles and gave off a good impression, yet I couldn't shake the uneasy feeling crawling up my spine.
“Oh come on, so modest. I saw your victory over Eisen in the training grounds last time, you know? I mean, how could you possibly end the match against Eisen in a single blow? I could only marvel, and marvel, and marvel again.”
“...Haha.”
“Just how did you create such destructive movements without any disruption in your chanting? What kind of calculations were going through your mind?”
He asked me the question blatantly, as if he had no intention of hiding anything at all.
His eyes were filled with sticky greed, and his smile was growing deeper by the second.
...Who the hell are you?
That was the only thought that came to mind.
The more openly he acted, the more curious I became about his true identity.
Licht. The genius who survived a Distortion.
If someone was pulling the strings behind him, who could it be?
Well, the professors, obviously. Who else?
The first thing that came to mind was naturally the professors.
All the instructors teaching the academy's magic department had been dispatched from the magic towers.
There was no way they would give up on Moving Casting.
So what was Licht?
Obviously, he was trying to look good in front of the professors.
Any mage would naturally try to curry favor with them.
Because if you could join a magic tower, your life would be set on a golden path.
In other words, no matter how I thought about it, Licht had to be the professors' pawn.
“I'm not sure. It just happened instinctively by chance, so it's hard to explain logically in words. Someone like you, senior, might understand.”
I tried to dodge his question as naturally as possible.
For a brief moment, the gentle smile on Licht's lips cracked ever so slightly.
But he quickly smoothed out his expression, stood up from his seat entirely, and dragged his chair right next to mine.
He sat so close that our shoulders were practically touching and opened his mouth again.
“Is that so? If it's really that hard to explain, wouldn't it be better if we slowly figured it out together while preparing for the practicum?”
He leaned his upper body toward me.
He pushed his face so close that I could feel his breath.
...This is getting creepy now.
His persistently sticky and obsessive behavior made goosebumps rise involuntarily on the back of my neck.
I reflexively pulled my chair back to create some distance.
...Dude, at least try to be subtle about it. Who's going to fall for it if you come on this strong?
...He's not just into guys, is he?
For a moment, a chill ran through my entire body from the ominous feeling.
Even after that day's meeting, Licht continued to participate in every gathering of group twelve, and Eisen thoroughly built up their plans based on his advice.
Of course, Licht lived up to his title by generously offering advice, and the plan was coming together without a hitch.
When facing groups of monsters that lived in darkness, fire magic would only provoke their ferocity, so you had to bind them with earth magic instead.
Or how to deal with mimics and similar monsters.
The knowledge he shared was all the real deal.
Before we knew it, a breathless month had passed, and the day of the joint dungeon practicum finally arrived.
The forest located on the outskirts of the academy was a damp, gloomy place.
The eerie and ominous mana clung heavily to everything; just looking at it made my chest feel stifled.
In front of the pitch-black dungeon entrance, hundreds of students stood in lines, their faces tense with the pressure of real combat—something they were experiencing for the first time.
Our group twelve, fully armed from head to toe, stood in the middle of that formation, waiting anxiously for our turn.
“Group eleven, entrance confirmed! Next, group twelve, move to the standby line!”
The assistant instructor in charge of proceedings shouted through a magic-amplified loudspeaker, and the voice echoed loudly through the forest.