Mock Battles Once a Season
The Mock Battle was held once every season, a regular event at Astra Academy. On the surface, it claimed to improve individual combat skills regardless of noble or commoner status and to foster competition and camaraderie among peers of the same age. But that was just the official line. Even if the event truly aimed for those goals, it could never unfold that way. Setting aside the already lopsided balance of power, one side consisted of the sons and daughters of the wealthy, raised like precious jewels, while the other side was made up of commoner students who could barely afford their uniforms and attended in everyday clothes. If something went wrong, which group would bear the full brunt of it? Even without much education, anyone who thought about it for a moment could reach the obvious conclusion.
Once Professor Cedric finished his explanation and left the classroom, a shadow fell over the seat I had been guarding.
“Why the long face?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Is it because of the Mock Battle? That’s not really your thing, is it?”
It was a familiar voice—Kair. When I gave a halfhearted reply, he glanced around the classroom before resting his palm on the long desk and speaking. He was guessing at the reason for my expression, tossing out a few words as if they were obvious. Typical of people who never considered the other side’s position.
“Being good at something and not wanting to do it are two completely different things.”
“…Huh?”
Kair tilted his head at my pointed mutter. It was true that overpowering students who had never even fought a monster, let alone held a proper weapon, was easy. But a fight where one side couldn’t even fight back properly… It was nothing more than one-sided bullying dressed up as an event. I rested my chin on my hand, my expression faintly uncomfortable.
“Still, you should be fine, right? Each match would probably be over in an instant for you.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.”
Kair seemed to think I simply disliked being the center of attention and asked if there was really a problem. Sometimes ignorance really was bliss. Just like that saying, he had no awareness of the gap between himself and the other students. After all, the academy only ever praised the Mock Battle in glowing terms—student exchange, combat skill improvement. With everyone around him spinning it that way, there was no room to think any deeper. But the fact that commoner students who had never even touched a sword held back out of fear of getting hurt was humiliating and embarrassing for both sides. Some students had probably realized it already, but they couldn’t bring themselves to say anything. If it were people trying to satisfy their twisted desire for power with students who “couldn’t do anything,” I could understand, but…
This guy probably wasn’t like that.
‘No need to bring up unnecessary things.’
If I told Kair about the disparity between students, it would definitely affect how he approached the Mock Battle. He was the type whose desire to improve was so strong that he had even brought me, someone closer to a mercenary trainee, all the way to this academy after seeing how I handled monsters. If he learned about the unpleasant undercurrents hidden in the Mock Battle, he might start holding back in future events. That would mean serious trouble for the protagonist’s growth. He already had to keep raising his stats through endless training and events; I couldn’t afford to plant strange ideas that would hold him back.
“What? Then what are you so worried about?”
Kair kept pressing, completely unaware of the complicated tangle of thoughts in someone else’s head. My heart was already on the commoner students’ side, but I kept my expression neutral as I continued, chin still resting on my hand.
“I told you, it’s nothing… Worry about yourself instead. Don’t go crying if you lose.”
“Hey, even so, how hard do you think I worked at home…?”
When I implied he might lose to the other students, Kair placed the back of his hand on my desk, palm facing up. He must have done quite a bit of practice swinging something around; I could see faint calluses beneath his pale skin. His effort was admirable, but I continued coldly and firmly.
“It’s all pointless. The world only cares about results.”
“Ugh, you’re so cold…”
At my indifferent response, he let out a pained yelp and lowered his head, grumbling about how heartless I was. After a moment, as if he had just remembered something, Kair suddenly lifted his face again.
“Oh, right. Morning classes are self-study… Are you going there?”
“Yeah.”
Morning classes being self-study meant we could freely use the facilities inside the building. I answered affirmatively without hesitation. Without needing any further explanation, we both knew exactly where “there” referred to. It was the place that served as the highlight of stat training during the academy’s three years and the origin of the protagonist’s infamous gay homo meme… The training hall, a name that seemed to carry the thick scent of men’s sweat just from hearing it.
“Hoo! Hoo!”
Even with the windows wide open, the training hall was filled with stifling heat. Male students who looked far too muscular for their age occupied the equipment one by one, breathing heavily. As expected, there wasn’t a single female student in sight. Technically, the space was open to female students as well if you checked the rules one by one, but…
‘What girl would ever come here?’
I changed into my workout clothes instead of my uniform and let out a deep breath along with the thought. There was the garden blooming with spring flowers, the library packed with books, the lounge filled with snacks and drinks—there was no reason for a girl to ignore all of that and come here. Even if someone did show up occasionally, it would only be fiancées who had already promised each other a future for one reason or another. It was a dreary, sweat-soaked place, but I had no choice but to come here often. Kair’s real adventures would begin after graduation, but until then, this was the only place where I could grow stronger on my own. Fortunately, he didn’t seem particularly interested in chasing girls either, and today he had even suggested coming to the training hall first.
‘If only this routine could last until graduation…’
I felt a small sense of relief at that fact and swallowed the words I couldn’t say aloud along with a faint hope. Unlike me, who was certain something would happen after graduation, Kair was simply focused on becoming strong enough to protect the people around him. Unlike those who pushed themselves to the limit to extract every possible gain while watching their growth curves, he might decide he was strong enough at some point and stop…
‘That can’t happen…!’
A sudden, ominous thought crossed my mind during the workout. My eyes flew open and I jerked upright on the inclined bench. If something like that happened, not only would Kair—the protagonist—lose his life, but the entire world would be doomed. The final boss fight was difficult enough that I had to restart a couple of times on my first playthrough just because I failed to recognize the wind-up for a certain attack. Since that fight had to be finished on the very first attempt, I needed to make him stronger than necessary. The first step toward that was these three years at the academy.
“Hnnngh, I can’t do any more…!”
I had to raise this guy to the highest level possible using the best routine I knew over the next three years. While I made that resolute vow, Kair collapsed on the equipment, groaning that he couldn’t go on. Still not tired thanks to my level advantage, I approached the limp figure and pressed his legs down so he couldn’t get up.
“One more.”
“What? I said I can’t!”
Kair’s eyes widened in surprise at the sudden encore request. I had counted the sit-ups he did from the side—exactly thirty-four. Still, I decided to at least match the trailing zero and urged the completely sprawled-out guy.
“What do you mean you can’t? You can do it. Just one more.”
“Ugh, aah… ack.”
Considering our respective positions, I wasn’t really in any place to order him around, but maybe because he respected me in his own way, Kair followed my unreasonable demand and struggled to lift his body despite his trembling. It was fairly impressive, but now we were on the thirty-fifth rep.
“Nice~ One more!”
“What? You said just one more!”
Like an endless sermon, the follow-up “one more” came with encouragement. Kair had barely managed to reach the goal and lay back down, but his eyes widened at the thunderous next demand. Those three words only bred more betrayal the more they were repeated. Unfortunately, we still had five more to go before reaching forty. It was a trick invented for people with weak wills who would collapse the moment you told them the target number from the start.
“Krrrrgh…!”
This time it’s really the end, this time I’ll really finish it. Using desperation as a carrot, I mercilessly swung the whip, and Kair trembled violently.
“Come on, thirty-eighth! Let’s just fill in that zero! Just fill in that zero! Only two more!”
Only now did I voice the goal I had been keeping in my head, clapping my hands and hammering the nearly visible finish line into his ears. When people could see the destination right in front of them, they tended to force themselves to move, if only to avoid regretting what they had already done. His hands and upper body shaking, Kair barely managed to reach the target. The moment I released his legs, he collapsed flat on his back and glared at me with resentful eyes before muttering shortly.
“I’m… I’m going to kill you…”
‘Was that a bit too much?’
I had only copied what the fitness trainers used to do.