The Day of the Freshmen Duels
The day had finally arrived for the freshmen duels—the very event where those women who would one day reach Transcendence would clash. Perhaps because the short holiday had ended, everyone looked a bit gloomy, yet an unexpected undercurrent of anticipation rippled through the crowd. Duels. As the saying goes, nothing beats watching a good fight, and the Academy students were no exception. Especially when it came to fresh-faced freshmen who had only just become adults.
—Kwaaang!
In the center of the vast arena where a duel was in full swing, a plume of white smoke billowed upward. From the surrounding stands came a chorus of awed “Ooh!” from the students. On the opposite side of the rising smoke, the student who had just finished the match with a fire-attribute attack stood with a triumphant expression.
“Cough… I-I surrender…”
The moment someone from the smoke-filled side called out their surrender, the referee immediately halted the duel.
“The winner of this duel is Helen!”
As the victor’s name was announced, the watching students burst into applause and cheers. In the meantime, the medical team moved swiftly, loading the fallen student onto a stretcher and carrying them away.
“As expected of Helen!”
“No wonder they call her the Daughter of the Fire Incarnate.”
“She fights so well… It’s my turn soon, and I’m getting nervous…”
The pair who had just finished their duel were fairly well-known even among the freshmen. Their names came up now and then whenever students moved between classes across the Academy. As such, their matchup had been one of the most anticipated on the bracket when it was first revealed.
Everyone seemed satisfied with the outstanding display… but honestly, there was no way I could enjoy watching kids shout “Fireball!” at the top of their lungs. No matter how much power words were said to hold, that was pushing it. Keep fighting like that and their throats would give out before their mana did.
Anyway, once the victorious Daughter of the Fire Incarnate left the arena, the next pair of students stepped up. Unfortunately, the two who had just entered were like Pascal and me—pitiful souls treated as a “breather match.” A breather match referred to either a completely one-sided slaughter due to a massive skill gap, or a painfully dull fight between two equally mediocre fighters. Those two fell into the latter category, while my match with Pascal was firmly in the former.
Normally, I should have been the one getting overwhelmingly crushed… but somehow, the situation had flipped entirely.
As expected, their duel proceeded without any major surprises. It wasn’t as exciting as the previous one, but the students’ reactions were surprisingly decent. Some even seemed inspired by the fierce back-and-forth between two evenly matched opponents. Was this what they called positive influence?
I was killing time like that, waiting for my own turn, when someone suddenly sat down beside me.
“Hehe.”
A familiar laugh. …Well, it was about time she approached.
When I turned my head, I saw a woman with hair as white as snowflakes. She was staring at me with narrowed eyes that looked somewhat suspicious. It felt like it had been a while. After I stole the cross necklace and ran off, she had been dragged around for investigations, so we hadn’t crossed paths directly.
Saintess Arie. The slightly strange woman who had forced her way into the Academy because she wanted to become the shadowy mastermind behind it all.
“How have you been?”
“Ah, yes. Hello.”
When the Saintess offered a light greeting, I returned it just as casually. While she smiled quietly, I glanced around. As expected, her escort—the one named Yulia—didn’t seem to be with her right now. So far, nothing looked different from the previous round. In that case, her business was obvious. She had definitely called me over just to play.
“What are you looking for?”
“It’s nothing. By the way, what did you call me for?”
“Hmm…”
The Saintess kept her eyes narrowed, staring at me intently. It was a little uncomfortable, but I stayed silent and waited. After all, as an ordinary student on the surface, I couldn’t exactly order the head of the Church—practically the Saintess herself—to stop staring.
“Hmmm…”
“……”
“I still can’t quite figure it out… Do you know who I am?”
“You’re the Saintess, aren’t you?”
“Hehe, you can just call me Arie.”
“Understood. Lady Arie.”
My quick response must have pleased her, because Arie clapped her hands together and beamed.
“You asked why I called you over, right?”
“Yes.”
“As for my business… Hmm, actually, I don’t have any right now.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, not at the moment. Hehe…”
Arie laughed again with that meaningful tone. Any normal student would have been scrambling to decipher the hidden meaning behind the Saintess’s words, but I understood her intentions perfectly. As I mentioned before, Saintess Arie was looking for long-term pieces to help realize her dreams and desires. What she wanted was to become the magnificent boss of a shadowy evil organization… Naturally, that required subordinates, and somehow I had been marked as a candidate.
Well, she must have lived a boring life in the Church all this time, so I could at least humor her with a bit of play. She seemed genuinely serious about it, but there was no way someone as kind-hearted as Arie could ever properly pull off being a dark mastermind. The fact that—aside from her fall in the first round—she had never once gone down a wicked path was proof enough.
Anyway, separate from all that, the current Arie was simply bored. If not, there would be no reason for her to approach me right now. In the previous round, she had done the exact same thing—approached me, dropped a few meaningful lines, then sat beside me without stating any actual business. Her behavior was hard to read, but my guess was that it happened because her ever-present escort, Yulia, had stepped away. With her gone and nothing to do, Arie was probably just killing time and stamping her mark on a future subordinate…
I quietly rose from my seat while Arie watched the match.
“That person over there is the Hero. It’s my first time seeing her fight… Huh? Where are you going?”
“It’s almost my turn, so I’ll head over first.”
If any other Church member had seen me stand up and leave without a word in front of the Saintess—who was not only my superior but practically the face of the entire order—they would have forced me to my knees on the spot. But Arie didn’t seem to mind at all; she simply waved goodbye with a smile.
“See you next time, then.”
“Yes, if the opportunity arises…”
“Hehe, who knows… We might meet again sooner than you think.”
Who knows, my ass. She was definitely going to act like we were acquainted again after the duel when I came back down…
“Ah, yes. I see.”
“Anyway, I’ll be watching, so make sure you win.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
I gave a vague farewell to the cheering Saintess and headed toward the arena. It seemed Arie was expecting me to show her something impressive in my duel. I had never particularly felt like living up to anyone’s expectations, but this match would certainly be entertaining enough to meet them.
When talking about the duels, I never mentioned anything about the regressor. It wasn’t that I wasn’t paying attention. I simply didn’t feel the need to bring it up together.
The Hero, Hestia, looked at the opponent who had stepped up to face her. A woman with sky-blue hair and blue eyes. Her attire and equipment didn’t stand out, but Hestia sensed an unusual aura emanating from her.
“Hello, Hero. I don’t think we’ve met before?”
“Greetings. You are…”
“Just call me Elisha. In return, is it okay if I casually call you Hestia?”
Facing the woman who introduced herself as Elisha, Hestia felt slightly flustered. This was the first time someone had approached her so warmly. While other students clearly avoided even talking to her… Hestia hid her joy and answered Elisha’s question.
“Yes, you may simply call me Hestia.”
“Got it, Hestia…”
After their brief introductions, Hestia drew her Holy Sword while Elisha took out an ordinary-looking spear. Just before the referee raised his arm to signal the start of the duel, Hestia heard Elisha murmur something.
“…This time will be different.”
There was a faint, almost wistful note in Elisha’s voice. I have no idea what she means. But of course, Hestia couldn’t possibly know what was going through the mind of Elisha, whom she had only just met today. Setting her doubts aside, she thought of her only friend who was surely watching from the stands. She couldn’t afford to show an easy defeat in this duel… Not when she always wanted to look good in front of him. Shaking off her thoughts, she steadied her stance.
“Begin!”
The moment the referee gave the signal, extraordinary mana erupted from both sides. Gasps of admiration rose from various spots in the audience, but the two combatants focused solely on the opponent before them.
The duel between the Hero who would one day reach Transcendence and the regressor had begun.
It was the short waiting period before my match. By the time I arrived, Hestia and Elisha’s duel had already started.
—Boom! Boom!
From the tip of Elisha’s spear came the same terrifying explosive sounds as last time. In contrast, Hestia’s sword was silent. Even though she was swinging it, there wasn’t even the sound of air being cut. Only when her blade occasionally clashed with Elisha’s spear did a thunderous roar echo out. In nearly every other movement, she produced almost no noise at all.
Both of them fought incredibly well. Up until the previous round, Elisha’s skill level hadn’t even allowed her to have a proper duel with Hestia. More accurately, she simply hadn’t had enough time to grow. She was constantly striving to become stronger, but catching up to the Hero in such a short period was no easy feat. Since I wasn’t Elisha herself, I couldn’t say for sure, but it seemed there weren’t many quick ways to grow stronger. That was probably why, despite regressing multiple times, Elisha had never managed to defeat Hestia in the freshmen duels.
Well, that’s only natural, I suppose.
From the very beginning, the Hero and the Saintess started from a completely different point than everyone else. Why else would people fear them while desperately trying to stay in their good graces? Of course, their high status played a part, but there was a bigger reason. They were essentially “guaranteed jackpot lottery tickets.”
They were beings who would definitely reach Transcendence one day. While the lucky and talented occasionally became Transcendents, the difference in caliber was on another level. The Hero and Saintess became Transcendents almost without fail—close enough to call it fate. Born with such overwhelming talent, their starting point was incomparably ahead of ordinary people.
It was no coincidence that the Transcendent Paern, who had been watching from the stands for some time now, was observing the Hero and Saintess’s duel. Just as others tried to make a good impression and avoid earning their enmity so they could one day ask for help after the two became Transcendents, he too wanted to borrow their power when that time came.
And the reason for that was… well, to catch me, of course.
And yet Elisha was holding her own perfectly against a talent even the Great Pioneer desired. Under normal circumstances, that would have been impossible, but the “forgotten martial art” she had learned made it possible. Thanks to acquiring that new technique, Elisha’s current strength was nearly equal to Hestia’s.
—Kwaaang!
Watching the arena where massive waves of mana raged like a storm, I thought to myself.
This… was going to take a while.