The Tournament Begins
"Four people have already come to see me! They politely asked to join our party!"
Claire ran toward me, hopping up and down with excitement.
"That's good. We can take our time and choose the right person."
"Exactly! We don't have to worry about the team tournament now! We'll definitely win the scholarship!"
Defeating the Behemoth was certainly a monumental achievement, but Claire and I received very little in return.
Due to its inherent instability, the Behemoth's corpse was useless as a high-quality magical reagent.
To make matters worse, the remains were in terrible condition, thoroughly corrupted by dark mana and torn to shreds.
Few could have made use of it anyway. A skilled dark mage might have used it for research, but such research would undoubtedly serve a sinister purpose.
The Academy wanted the Behemoth incident forgotten as quickly as possible. The moment they recovered the corpse, they mobilized mages to incinerate it completely.
We did receive a modest reward, but it wasn't enough to significantly improve our financial situation.
"We're definitely going to strike it rich this time!"
The team tournament. Strictly speaking, it was part of the curriculum, but in reality, it was a grand festival hosted by the Academy.
It was a competition designed to test the strength of the cadets, boasting a prize pool so massive that even students from wealthy noble families would find it enticing.
"We'll have to give it our all."
I had worried the tournament might be scaled down or canceled due to the Behemoth incident, but the Academy seemed determined to proceed as scheduled.
They likely felt the need to demonstrate that the Academy remained secure and unshaken. From their perspective, hosting an internal event was far safer than sending cadets on risky external missions.
"So, assuming you and I are definitely in the party... who else do we need? A priest?"
"You're the priest, Claire."
"Ah... Oh! Right! I forgot!"
A Dark Priestess was still a priestess, after all.
Although she couldn't cast the holy spells or buffs of a traditional cleric, she could still heal physical wounds and cast curses to debilitate enemies.
"We just need a knight to hold the front line, and a mage or an archer. That should do it."
It was a relief to have options.
If I were following the game's original scenario, I wouldn't have to struggle to find party members like this...
Had I chosen the path of light, I could have simply interacted with the main characters daily to raise their affinity and recruit them.
Even on the dark path, I could have recruited a decent knight or archer—if only I hadn't made an enemy of Katarin.
But choosing to oppose the Imperial Princess instead of Katarin in that situation wouldn't have ended well either. There was no point in harboring regrets now.
Fortunately, Claire and I were drawing a significant amount of attention. If I carefully filtered through the applicants attracted by our sudden notoriety, I could find a capable teammate.
"Could you tell me who applied?"
"Huh? Well... none of them are famous enough for you to recognize their names."
"It doesn't matter."
My memory of the game was slightly hazy, but if it was someone truly important, the name would ring a bell.
"Let's see, um..."
Claire began listing the names. Most of them were completely unfamiliar to me.
I felt a bit bad, but I had no use for freeloaders who simply wanted to ride on the coattails of a Dark Priestess's power.
Given my current reputation, I couldn't build affinity with the main characters during regular classes. If I didn't seize the opportunity presented by this tournament, I might find myself without any reliable allies in the future.
Lost in thought, I suddenly snapped my head up when Claire uttered the last name on her list.
"Wait. The last one... did you say her name was Lilian?"
"Y-yes! They said she's an elf. Her ears were really pointed!"
Not bad. A great candidate had practically fallen into my lap.
She might not be exceptionally powerful right now, but she was a trustworthy archer with guaranteed growth potential.
"I should go meet her..."
There was a lot on my plate. I needed to find a way to meet Kellin away from Katarin's watchful eyes, and I had to anticipate how Kazot might interfere in the upcoming tournament.
But first, I needed to secure our roster.
"When does her class end?"
Olivia read the small letter in her hand over and over again.
There was no hidden meaning. Her parents' demand was brutally direct.
If you do not achieve results, return to the main house.
Stripped of its few rhetorical flourishes, the message was laughably simple.
Father...
She could understand. Olivia knew exactly how he felt.
Even before this, her family had been treated as fence-sitters within the Empire.
They had faced endless slander, accused of failing to play their part in the conflict with the Erast family and of secretly consorting with them.
When I first declared I would walk the path of a knight, everyone was so proud...
Olivia had chosen the path of knighthood solely to dispel the suspicious glances cast upon her family.
For a brief moment, it had worked. By dedicating their eldest daughter to the noble duty of serving the Imperial Princess, the hostility directed at her family had begun to fade.
"I brought shame to the family, so it is only natural that I am punished..."
Regardless of her true intentions, Olivia was now viewed with suspicion. That doubt spread like wildfire, threatening to consume her entire family.
"But how..."
Now that she had been dismissed from the princess's service, mediocre achievements would not be enough to appease her father.
Loyalty alone was no longer enough. Her loyalty had already been proven worthless in their eyes.
Having lost the princess's favor, she would never be granted a second chance.
The only thing that mattered now was power.
Unless she achieved a significant victory in the upcoming team tournament, Olivia would be forced to return home in disgrace.
"..."
Her life at home had never been pleasant. No one acknowledged her, and no one valued her.
She was merely a pawn to be traded away in a political marriage. She had never been treated as a true daughter or a member of the family.
Yet, it was not that cold indifference that terrified her.
"..."
Even if she was neglected, she would still live the comfortable life of a noble lady.
Compared to the grueling training and discipline required of a knight, a life of excessive comfort awaited her back home.
But to Olivia, that comfort meant the death of her worth.
Being a knight was her last chance. Her final opportunity to prove her value to her family.
The moment she returned, she would be nothing more than a political tool. No matter how hard she struggled, she could never rise above that status, and short of descending into madness and committing a crime, she could never fall below it.
I need more power...
Yet Olivia knew her own limits all too well.
One who wielded the power of light could not grow strong overnight.
It required months, if not years, of grueling, steadfast training.
"If only I could find strong teammates..."
But even that was an unrealistic delusion.
Olivia was strong, but the results her father demanded could not be achieved by her strength alone.
Unless her team could go toe-to-toe with Katarin's party or the princess's party, her father would never acknowledge her efforts.
The only rational choice left to her was clear.
Yet, until the very last moment, Olivia could not bring herself to make it.
"How polite of them..."
Katarin smiled faintly, slowly savoring the contents of the letter that had just burned to ash before her eyes.
It was a message from Kazot. Instead of expressing anger over her unauthorized use of their assets, they had flattered her with sweet, sycophantic words fit for high society.
"Asking me to join their plan... Well, if they ask like this, I suppose I can play along."
In exchange, they had offered an enticing tribute, requesting her cooperation.
Katarin gently rolled a small, black orb in the palm of her hand.
"I wonder how many lives were sacrificed to make this... There haven't been any rumors of disappearances nearby, so they must have brought it from quite far away."
It was a high-quality catalyst of malice, forged from the condensed blood of countless victims.
It was a precious artifact that could allow her to cast grand spells she previously lacked the mana for, or temporarily amplify her dark energy to suppress other dark mages.
Even as the successor of the Erast family, she rarely laid eyes on such a refined masterpiece.
Just as she had realized when they casually provided a nascent Behemoth, Kazot possessed resources that far exceeded their apparent standing.
"T-they must have sent such a gift because... because they fear you, Lady Katarin—"
Kellin, though visibly suffering from the ambient dark mana, stammered out flattery to bolster Katarin's pride.
But Katarin could no longer trust her.
"Indeed. It is a fine gift, so I must repay the favor."
She smiled thinly.
"They asked me to kill someone. During the team tournament, to spark a conflict."
"..."
"Do it. If possible, join Wade's team."
Katarin had already lost interest in Kellin. Her patience had reached its absolute limit.
She had gone to great lengths to torment Kellin, constantly reminding her who her true master was, but—
"Y-yes! I... understand!"
Kellin's eyes still betrayed a deep, lingering terror of Wade.