A Reason to Grow Stronger
Over the past week, I'd been settling into academy life rather well.
It was a span of time both short and long, and quite a few changes had found their way into my relationships.
First, Phorion and I had sparred with each other often enough that we were now on a first-name basis, and we occasionally crossed swords from time to time.
Second, more of my fellow Class E cadets had grown openly friendly toward me.
Of course, there were still those unsightly fools who droned on about how I was a commoner and all the rest of it.
But even more students had begun approaching me first, so I no longer had any reason to feel lonely in class.
"Bell. Let's go grab lunch."
And if there was one change in my relationships bigger than all the rest, it would be with this guy.
Arden Feltner.
The protagonist of the original novel.
In order to investigate the circumstances of how Arden had ended up in Class E and the detailed story behind it, I had approached him deliberately.
Fortunately, just as in the original, he was outwardly sociable and bright enough that he didn't suspect me much, and we hit it off right away.
These days we'd progressed to the point of eating lunch together like today, and kicking a ball around whenever we got bored.
Honestly, that smile of his permanently plastered across his face was beyond off-putting, but he was the same dim-witted fellow who got called a pushover in the original, so I decided to let it slide.
"Sure. What are you thinking of eating?"
"Tina said she'd pick with us. Anything you're craving?"
Craving, he says.
Even so, for Class E cadets like us, the living stipend wasn't much, so our menu options were limited.
At best it was the Today's Menu E-Course from the academy cafeteria, or the cheapest single-serving meal on offer.
The former in particular—of all names, it had to be the "E-Course"—was a menu that doubled the humiliation for us Class E students eating it.
It felt like the place was taunting us: 'This is all you people are fit to eat.'
Anyway, nothing in particular came to mind for me.
In situations like this, the best move is to shove the decision onto whoever isn't here yet.
"Not really. We can just leave it to Tina."
"Works for me."
Arden apparently didn't have anything he particularly wanted to eat either, and echoed my suggestion.
After that, we were making idle small talk with no real topic, when Tina came in through the classroom's back door, waving cheerfully.
"I'm here. Have you two decided what you want for lunch?"
"We were waiting for you to decide for us."
"Wha—so you two have just been gossiping this whole time? Planning to dump the hard part on me?"
When the two of us nodded, Tina's face scrunched up like the face of a melted slime.
"That's so mean of you…. Ugh, fine, should we just try the cafeteria?"
"The cafeteria again? I'm sick of it."
"Geez, then you two pick, already!"
I had muttered that under my breath half as a tease, and steam came puffing out of the top of Tina's head.
Ooh, if you set a potato up there it'd boil nicely.
The more I looked, the more impressive an ability it was. At that level, wasn't it practically magic?
My grumbling about being sick of it was only ever a joke, so we headed to the academy cafeteria at Tina's suggestion.
Love it or hate it, the food quality was decent, the prices were cheap, and this was the only place truly suited to our budget.
"One Today's Menu E-Course, please."
"Sure thing. Give me just a moment."
The three of us, as if we'd agreed on it beforehand, chose the exact same menu, collected our trays, and moved along.
There'd be nothing wrong with eating outside so long as we didn't make a mess, but hauling our trays all the way out there was a bother, so we found a suitable spot and sat down.
We were each savoring the modest flavor of our soup spoons when—
Tina, our source of all gossip, rapped the table noisily and delivered the news like she was reading the morning paper.
"Did you guys hear? Classes A through C are heading out on an external expedition before long!"
"External? External to where?"
Arden, sitting beside me, paused mid-tear of his bread and voiced the question.
"Class C is confirmed to head to the Magician's Forest in three weeks, but the other two classes haven't decided yet."
Flinch.
The moment the primary setting of the very event I was watching most closely at this point came up, my hand stopped of its own accord.
Even though I'd expected this, I couldn't help but lean in and listen.
Beside me, Arden—who had been eating away just like me—also raised his eyebrows at the unexpected phrase and perked up.
"The Magician's Forest? Isn't that a rather dangerous place?"
"I'd say so? From what I know, spirits come out there too."
Tina had it right.
The Magician's Forest—or the Forest of Spirits, as it was also called—was a place within the academy grounds where entry was forbidden without a professor's accompaniment or explicit permission.
For one thing, this forest had preserved the natural state of centuries past almost perfectly intact.
Which meant it was a place like a tropical rainforest, where not only medicinal herbs but all manner of poisonous plants flourished.
And because the nature there was so perfectly preserved, it was also a primary habitat for spirits.
These spirits were intensely hostile toward intruders, and they were beings without physical form.
It was generally said that magic of the 4th Star Rank or higher was required to deal damage to a spirit's body, but a freshman freshly enrolled at the academy usually stopped at the 3rd Star Rank at best.
Among the strongest of Class A, perhaps a mage could forcibly scratch the surface of a 4th Star Rank spell if they brought in catalysts, but Class C had no such existence.
In the original, Rone too had only been able to use 3rd Star Rank magic at this point, and suffered no end of hardship for it.
And since physical attacks were, naturally, useless against them, the spirits were the single greatest spoiler of this three-day expedition through the Magician's Forest.
'But that isn't the real problem.'
When it came to this exploration of the Magician's Forest, the spirits were actually less of an obstacle than one might think.
By default, the protective charm given to all cadets—the Spirit King's Touch—kept the lower spirits from approaching recklessly.
To be sure, it didn't work on the medium spirits guarding the expedition's target, the Blessing of Astesia, but that much could somehow be managed with a coordinated group operation.
The real problem was that a certain 'Bartel'—a Follower making his first appearance in the story at this point—would forcibly evolve several of the forest's spirits into medium spirits, drive them berserk, and set them on the students.
During that incident, Arden and Rone would come face to face with Bartel himself and try to stop his villainy—that was the core of the Magician's Forest arc.
"Bell. You're looking a little pale there."
Arden tapped my shoulder and spoke up.
Imagining what was to come had apparently stiffened my face without my noticing.
What I really wanted to say was, 'Everything went sideways because of you, you bastard.'
If only this guy hadn't come to Class C, there'd be no need to worry about the Magician's Forest incident at all.
I let out a small sigh, as if steadying my breath, and forced a smile.
What good would venting on this guy do?
What I needed to do now was figure out a way to resolve the Magician's Forest incident and save Rone.
"It's nothing. I've just kind of lost my appetite."
"If you're leaving it, can I eat it?"
"What are you, a dog?"
Seizing the moment, Tina swooped in, and I swatted her down in one stroke and went back to my meal.
Tina, like me, was from the countryside, and she didn't seem to feel any great aversion to eating what someone else left behind.
I didn't really mind it either, but handing food I'd been eating over to a girl was awkward no matter how you sliced it, so I decided to start by polishing off the soup in front of me.
"Slurp."
Even as I ate like a starved prisoner, my mind was wholly occupied with searching for a way to resolve the Magician's Forest incident.
Fortunately, I had an idea in mind for how I, a Class E student, might take part in Class C's expedition into the Magician's Forest.
The problem was that even if I wormed my way into that episode, it would all be for nothing if I couldn't stop Bartel himself.
Bartel was a considerable powerhouse—Arden had only barely brought him down after releasing his full strength.
Of course, even that made Bartel small fry among the Followers, but at this point in time it meant he was a force far above even Elisha.
Even if I couldn't defeat him, I at least lacked the strength right now to force a mutual draw, or to slip past him and run.
Which was to say, this couldn't be an ordinary class—I needed to secure some means of growing stronger within a very short window.
And for that, I'd need a proper teacher.
'Who could it be?'
I ran through various figures in my head, straining to find the best fit.
Arden himself was a strength-hiding type, showing no trace of his true power at present, so he was out.
Elisha and I weren't close enough for me to ask for help.
Phorion and I had gotten fairly friendly, sure, but he lacked the capacity to train me to a level that could touch Bartel.
Which meant I had no choice but to find someone with both the standing to teach me and the skill to back it up.
'It really has to be that person, doesn't it.'
Having arrived at the only answer, I narrowed my eyes and drained the rest of my soup, bowl and all.
If this method proved impossible, saving Rone would be beyond reach.
All-or-nothing—I'd just have to throw myself at it.
Recently, Seras had one cadet she had been keeping a close eye on.
He was someone she had thought extraordinary even when she examined him, and passed on his merits.
As if to reward her expectations, from his very first day of enrollment he stirred up one storm after another, making her—the homeroom professor of Class E—puff up her shoulders with pride.
So much so that even the Headmaster, famously stingy with praise for anyone, happened to hear rumors of the boy secondhand and remarked in passing, "Quite an exceptional cadet has joined us, hasn't he?"
And today, that student of hers had abruptly requested a meeting.
Because he was a cadet she had long watched with interest, Seras set aside her personal schedule after classes and agreed to the meeting.
"Drink."
"Thank you."
Seras handed a cup of coffee to her student—Bell—who had come to her office, and took the seat across from him.
Outwardly she kept her usual impassive air, but in truth, Seras was rather nervous right now.
Her appearance so often struck people as cold that her students had rarely, if ever, requested a meeting themselves.
Seras took a sip of coffee and lifted her head.
Her navy eyes, softened a touch more than usual, studied Bell.
"So. What did you need to see me about?"
"Actually, it isn't really a meeting I wanted. I came to make a personal request."
"A request?"
There weren't many things a student could reasonably request of a professor.
Unless, that was, it went beyond the pale—asking for special treatment in credits or the like.
So for an instant, Seras frowned, wondering if this boy belonged to that sort after all.
From the past week of observation, her impression was strongly of a remarkably diligent student.
She told herself it wouldn't happen, yet she couldn't quite shake the unease.
In the end, Seras decided she had to say at least this much before he could bring himself to speak, and opened her mouth.
"I know you won your sparring match against a Class B cadet, and that your conduct in your studies is exemplary. As your homeroom professor, so long as it isn't an unreasonable demand, I am willing to hear it out."
She had drawn the line, crisp and clean.
'If you came here with some excessive ask in mind, then turn back now.'
But at this, Bell—as if he had anticipated exactly this—instead let a faint smile cross his face.
"It probably isn't an unreasonable request. But I doubt it's an easy one either, which is why I hesitated."
"So long as it stays within the bounds of propriety, I will gladly grant it. Consider it my way of repaying you for living up to my expectations."
Those last words were her honest truth.
Of course she knew that as a professor, she ought to hold no favorites among the students she taught.
Even so, the fact that the student she had been watching had proven her eye hadn't failed her was something she was genuinely grateful for.
That was why, privately, she wanted nothing more than to give him her due praise.
Bell nodded, satisfied with her answer, then fixed her with a grave, earnest gaze.
"Then, if you'll permit me to presume—"
"Go on. Speak."
What manner of favor could he possibly want, that he would stall like this?
Seras waited for his words, her emotions suppressed as much as she could manage.
So that, if her student's demand proved excessive, she could cut it off with a clear head.
After a brief silence, his tightly closed lips finally parted.
"Please teach me—even if only for exactly three weeks."
And with that, the silence broke.